The duchess — no, Cigyun, fisted his hair at the nape of his neck. "Kurth," she said, friends before their titles. Always friends, he reminded himself, even as her hand slid across his hip to keep him close. A good, kind woman living with such a hellish man. "Kurth," she said again, stretched up on her tiptoes to hook her chin on his shoulder. Anyone could find them like this, bundled up together in a musty horsestall while his guards played dumb outside.
"Cigyun." He needed to care, but she was the only woman he'd had in his arms. How well she fit there! He was not done growing, half a head shorter than his father with hands yet to harden from swordfaire, yet she folded up in his arms like he could protect her.
He could not.
She pulled him in, closer somehow. Her nose bumped against his jaw. "What has he done to you now?" despite her mood bearing no bruises. He wanted to peel her out of her dress and check.
Sweet like dawn, she laughed. "I am glad to see you. Nothing else." She was not always glad to see him — she told him as much. He confounded her, ground her heart to bits, feelings she amplified in his own heart, and each time he visited, they risked being outed. Now she was glad to see him.
Glancing at the shut door, he told himself they were alone without question. No one knew either of them were here besides his entourage, but knights were nothing noteworthy, nor could they spend forever here. Leaning back against the gate, she was too slender to follow, reclined on his chest, hand sliding out of his hair to rest on his shoulder, peering up at him. She stirred more than his heart. "I have thought about what you asked the last time I visited," he led with. "About our…predicament."
Fondly, she huffed. Her kissable mouth twisted into a smile. "Sh. I do not want to talk about him, Kurth. I am here with you."
His brow furrowed. "I have done as you ask, Cigyun. I cannot stand the thought of-"
"I must stand the thought everyday," she interrupted. She curled her hand in his tunic, yanking on it as if they were a common woman and man. He was not a prince with her, just another, and if he could not help her as a prince, helping her as a man was nearly impossible. "For now, let me be with you. Only you."
"But-" she shushed him again. "Cigyun."
Thankfully, she still smiled, a bright spot in a dusky stable. "What have you thought about, my prince? Tomorrow? The day after next? Next month? Next year?" Kurth did not have to say a thing. She pulled him down again, pressing a kiss to his cheek, nearly his mouth. "You are sweet, Kurth, but if you are to plan, plan well. But not now. For once, let something not be about him."
